The Future We Embrace
by swiftswan
Summary: It's been 2 years since the Harvardville incident, and Claire's emotions seem so far away - which lead her to Leon. Will her feelings ever return, or will they be lost with the war and battle they have both known? A LeonxClaire.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Capcom, or any of the characters created by them.

This storyline is following two years after the Resident Evil: Degeneration Movie - read it up on Claire Redfield's wiki profile if you don't know it ^_^.

Enjoy!

* * *

→For it is only through personal reflection,  
That we can now choose our destiny;  
... Our next adventure;  
... And the future we will embrace.

-Kit McCallum

Life is a precious thing, something you can't just waste. This is one thing I have realised over the years I have been battling, fighting, with the dead, and I could never give up, even if everything inside me told me too. The feelings I have felt have been structured and destroyed by hate and rage, created by a man, a man whose name I don't dare speak of, for it sends the burst of madness and anger within me - the one who killed Steve, diminishing part of my life with it. That, I can never face.

It had been two years since the Harvardville incident, and I'm still an active member of the Terrasave unit, an organisation that promotes and supports human rights, but since the accident we've been keeping the organisation quiet, if anyone knew that a member of it was involved with the airport and zombies incident, there's a possibility we could be shut down, for reasons which are unjustified. For these two years, I still haven't found myself; I don't know why I am here, or how I manage to keep on surviving. I don't know anyone anymore, and the people I did know are long gone, and so I've found that I've lost parts of myself in them – and now I feel empty, and lost. The only beings that seem to understand me are my cat & my brother, but since Chris joined the BSAA, it's just been me and the Siamese.

I recoiled from the memory of the incident, so much pain and lost there, I can't face it. I quickly jumped up from the sofa, grabbed my old jacket and headed out the door, at times like this my apartment doesn't seem like home, and so I found every excuse to get out of it.

Manhattan, to me, is the city that never sleeps, forever lit by the core of lights and it surrounds the city, even though it may not be a safe city, I still see the light as a protection veil when I walk through it. I didn't realise how untrue that was that night.

The movie store was still open; and renting a movie seemed like my escape at the time. I opened the door, happily hearing the familiar chink of the bell against the glass, and then stared upon the rows of films and DVDs. I didn't know titles, so I just grabbed one with an action cover and went straight to the till. I placed it down on the counter and looked up to the Cashier, his face was blatantly worried and his eyes glinted as I looked at them, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he then looked very quickly to his left and then back to me, and I stared in his direction.

In the slightly illuminated corner of the store, lit by the soda fridges and the light outside was a faint dark figure, my heart stuttered as I realised he was holding a handgun, pointing towards the Cashier's skull. I hastily looked back at him, while he put one of his hands up, and the other in the till, pulling out wads of money and then handing them to the figure; the figure sniggered and grabbed the notes. I hoped that would be it, but that's when I heard the gunshot, I had heard many before, but this had a shattering sense to it.

"Argh!" The Cashier screamed, clutching his abdomen and falling to his knees, I didn't notice that the mugger had split and ran away; my only focus was to save the injured man. Within second's blood pooled out within his fingers, and it began to drip on the floor, forming circles of the dark liquid. I put my hand on his shoulder as soon as I jumped over the till, catching my leg on the side and swearing as it did so. I could feel the tension of his muscles in his shoulder, "Press on it, otherwise you'll lose a lot of blood" I placed my hand on the gun wound, and put pressure against it. He whimpered loudly as I pressed on it harder and harder, but somehow the blood wouldn't seize and slow, I just kept feeling the warm, wet liquid pouring onto my hands. He gave his final breath, and died while I was trying to save him, the gasping truth couldn't escape me here. As I looked at him, with a gut wrenching realisation I saw that there were two gun wounds; one probably punctured his lung, the other stomach.

Nothing...this was the emotion I felt the next day, after hours of a session with the police and then Terrasave getting involved, saying that I couldn't of possibly of 'forgot' to ring the police or the ambulance, nor did I 'accidentally' not notice the other wound. Of course this is all true, I forgot to ring services and I only tried to stop blood gushing out of one would, not two. Terrasave dropped me, saying I was a risk to their organisation and I had to accept that there was no turning back.

I was angry with myself; I didn't have the courage to fight the murderer, even though I have put the gun to many heads before, and even when I don't have a gun I still find a way to stop them – when another being is in danger, I stop them.

I had no emotion, and that is what scared me the most – I was like the incurable that I had fought all those years ago, only to serve a purpose, to rescue or to kill the killer, and last night I did neither.

Through the night, I didn't sleep, I remembered the Harvardville incident. And what Leon said, his words echoed through my head;

_You're a rescuer, not a fighter like me and your brother_

I needed help, and Leon was the only person who I knew could help me – I will find him, no matter what it takes.


	2. Offered

Sorry about the big delay and the badness of the chapter I just scrapped, this is a cleaner, better version of it.

**Disclaimer**: Capcom created all the characters, and original plots along with Resident Evil. I do not own any of it.

The blurring images of yellow and green flashed past my window in my cabin, and the smell of fresh grass came through the window – the smell reminded me of home, and where Chris and I would ride the bikes into the wide open fields and we would play Hide and Seek or Cops and robbers – both games I seem to use these days, or at least I used too.

I dusted the table of the brown breadcrumbs that lay there; someone must have eaten a hamburger before because the smell of meat also seemed to mix with the grassy smell. The train suddenly jolted and shook, which made me jump, and I tried to calm down as the train did. It seemed that my past had scarred my adrenaline, and it seemed to want to spread as soon as I was surprised.

Finally I arrived in Washington, the clean cut lawns and polished buildings really didn't remind me of home – but the people sure did. Everyone rushed out of the train as fast as they could, not quite caring about everything else. I guess this state could be a stressful one.

I had to have a chat with our President – he owed be big time. Number one, he owes Leon and I for the Harvardville and Raccoon City saviours, and number two, he owes me for keeping me locked up in quarantine for 6 gruelling months to make sure we didn't have any form of the viruses – which of course we didn't. And all I need is some information of his most trusted ally and subordinate.

The bodyguards let me through and the guide let me up the winding world of the White House, leading me to the President's office – this was of course after the severe security checks, with those metal detectors, and then the hands when they bleeped because of my necklace, urgh. Talk about trust.

I also got a glimpse of the President's blonde girl, Ashley Graham, who seemed to be morbidly upset about something, as I heard her weeping and then a soothing voice trying to negotiate something with her. When I saw her she was dressed in sweats and her hair was tied up – she also had slightly shiny cheeks from when she'd been crying. And even after all that, she was still pretty, man was I jealous.

It was not long till I found out why.

The President had blonde hair just like Ashley's, but other than that there was no resemblance – he had dark blue eyes that were circled by thinning eyelashes, he had thick, orange coloured eyebrows and his sun kissed skin was lightly dusted with brown freckles. He was a stocky man but despite that he was also tall, and he had sharp features which contrasted to the softness of his skin tone and eyes.

"Claire" He sniffed "Have a seat"

And so I sat, a little confused of his clipped tone and shiftiness.

"Claire – firstly before we get into anything else I would like to ask you to join the team, I hear you've been dropped from Terrasave?" He waited for my nod "Well I certainly know that you have a good history with dealing with...unusual circumstances. You're young, healthy and physically able to deal with the simplicities of working for me" I wanted to speak but he didn't give me a chance "It's just a small job – escorting my daughters, Ashley & Brooke, to and from work and college, stay with them at all times until they're in the White House." He looked at me straight "In return I'll give you safety and a place to stay, along with payment of course."

I considered this – escorting the President's daughters certainly isn't my dream job, but it's much easier than what I'm used to – I'd just have to deal with squeaky young adults – and the safety and accommodation was definitely what a needed. But I still needed to know about Leon.

"I'll accept the job, President" I hesitated, "I just need to know one more thing..." I fumbled in my purse for the picture of Leon that I had found, it was back in the 90's, but you could tell it was him. "Back in 2004 Leon worked for you, I'm not sure if he still works for you, but I'm sure you have...connections to him. Can you tell me where he is?" I looked at him.

He shifted uncomfortably "Yes, he works for the Government" He tried to smile at me "But Claire...he went on a mission 6 months ago, and we haven't heard from him in 2 months, no sightings, nothing. Claire, he is presumed dead."

No.


	3. Given

Here is the next chapter! A short installment, but hopefully you'll get the gist. I'm not a big fan of stories that leap into the emotion right away; I like to build it up.

Please Enjoy! (and R&R! ;))

I awoke the next morning slightly disorientated and dazed, in the smoky grey room that pooled in the gentle light from the outside. The curtains had shifted, allowing a glint of it to shine through – it pierced my eyes and made me cringe away. I was never a morning person, and today seemed to be the worst I've experienced. How could I have let this happen to you? We promised, YOU promised that we'd see each other again, you kept them, you always did.

I swung my legs out of the bed, taking in the morning. My head felt stuffed with wool, I couldn't think clearly and my mind felt blank, as if someone had stolen all my own thoughts and memories. There'd been a storm the night before, and I tossed and turned as the rain thrashed violently against the window, it seemed to match my mood.

I paced over to the window, and drew the thin curtains back, I peered out with my eyes squinted – it had been cold and the raindrops had frozen to a clear, pure frost. It laced around the frame and ornately stuck as a pattern. I pressed my finger to the window, feeling the cold envelope it – I pulled away and saw the curved line of my finger that had just lain upon there. My heart felt heavy, but my mind just seemed so numb – there was no emotion.

I hastily got dressed, shoving on a pale grey tank top, dark jeans and then a sweater. There was no one to impress here, and besides – he was gone now.

I was just about to crawl back into bed, with my thoughts of the grueling days ahead, as Ashley knocked on the door quietly. I didn't answer at first, I wasn't even sure that I'd heard it, but then knocked again, faster and harder this time. "Come in" my hoarse voice croaked.

She opened the door, almost gently, and glided herself around it. I nodded at her.

Last night, as the President could see I was distressed, he offered me a spare room for the night, the week or the month, depending on how long I planned to stay. It was a cozy room which hadn't been used for a while, but was still a really lovely place to be. It had light, warm grey walls and a light coloured double bed which now looked completely turned over due to my rough night.

"How are you?" She said, looking at me with her concerned brown eyes, "I understand you and Leon were close…"

She stopped quite quickly, and I realized I must have had a sore look on my face at the mention of him, and it wasn't long before she mirrored it. "I miss him too" She said, her face crumbling and her voice broke, she fell apart in front of me, her head in her hands, her blonde hair falling forward to cover her and I heard her low, raspy sobs. I wanted to join in too, I really did.

"We were" I whispered "Very close" I looked at her "And you were too, right?"

She nodded, "Well, maybe not from his point of view, but I'd never felt closer – or safer – with anyone else but him. I'm - well was" she inhaled a sharp breath, and swallowed "infatuated with him. I couldn't help it."

I didn't let her carry on as I pulled her in for a hug, and she clung on, sobbing more. She suddenly reminded me of Sherry & Rani, the two little girls I have protected over the years, both of them were with Leon as well. Even though Ashley was only 5 years younger than me, her vulnerability and sadness just brought back memories of the two young girls. He was right; I was a rescuer, not a fighter.

But sometimes I had to be. After a chat with the President, and more bargaining, he had let me go to the country Leon was last reported in – the vast outskirts of Australia, and I was going to find him, not matter what it took.


	4. Released

Hi everyone.

Here is another update to the Future We Embrace, it's a little different and changes tenses halfway through. Hopefully it's a good change of pace, but please let me know what you think.

R&R! ;)

* * *

It had been around two weeks since Ashley had come into my room, and we were bonded by the longing for the distant man who was in our lives and had affected us so deeply. Two weeks was the bargain I made with President Graham, before I was allowed to go on my very early break in the job and go to Australia. I had to escort Brooke to and from classes, as she was now going to college and needed protection in case another 'Los Illuminados' kidnapping happened again. Then I had to watch the gates for an hour before she left college, and then follow both Ashley & Brooke everywhere – parties, dinners, meetings, shopping, just everything. It wasn't long before Brooke got annoyed with me as her constant shadow, but it seemed that Ashley was grateful for the protection.

Once I had completed the two weeks, he finally allowed me access to the top secret mission he had set Leon on, it seemed he'd trusted me, and so it wasn't long before I was on the small jet to Australia.

Australia was breathtaking, long plains of gold and green, stretching for miles into the distance. The sun illuminated the ground, almost like fuel to fire as it burned beneath me. I stared at the scenery, it wasn't like I'd imagined – a place that takes something important away from you would never be portrayed as beautiful, but it was, it really was.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, the shotgun jabbing slightly into my side. I was given a general handgun and a good quality shotgun for my mission, along with a first aid kit. If I was new to this I'd ask why I'd need all of it – but of course I knew, Wesker may be dead now, but he had many connections and a new wave of bioterrorism had hit a very highly developed country, but to the President – who had seen a lot of crap – this was something new.

"Hi" I smiled at the warm voice from my pilot – he was middle aged, with long straggly hair that he tied up in a ponytail, he had dirt coloured skin and crinkled brown eyes, he was also a very smart man, and with a huge knowledge of geography and politics he was very helpful.

"Head down this dirt track for about half a mile and you'll come across a small village, which is just about hidden by the small mountains now. The village is basically full of agents, working in small tents. They will give you updates via a headset and will give you reports & findings. They will also keep track of you" He handed me a small dagger, gleaming & silver "Good luck" he added.

It was boiling, and I was so grateful for the thin tank tone and shorts I was wearing, otherwise I would've baked. I just hoped Leon wasn't stuck outside in this heat – and no, I hadn't given up on him, he was out there and I knew it, he was just lost and I needed to find him.

And I will, for here I am, ready to go.

* * *

The sun is so hot, for days I have found this intense heat sucking out willpower. I have to go on, I have to. I lay in a shadow – shade -, enjoying the relief from the cover of the sun. "At last" I say, and I relax my head against the cool sand and close my eyes, feeling my tense muscles in my neck and back release. I breathe deeply, loving the peace and quiet.

"It's him!" I hear and groan, they found me again.

I stand up and face a group of Aussie Warriors – well, what I call them anyway – one sneered at me. They are all men, long and lean and strong, with long knives and clubs, all the basic weapons all the controlled seem to carry. I pull out my gun, rusty now from all the work of warfare, and I fire.

Two shots went into the first and second's men's chests, sending out a long _whoomph_ sound from both of them, as blood spurt and painted the yellow ground with red splatters. They fell, but I know they won't be down for long and I shoot the third one, this one was different, taller and faster, it is a shitty battle trying to kill him. Every bullet I fire he dodges, until I manage to shoot him in the leg and he goes down and I kick his head, sending him backwards. The best way to kill them is with a knife, and so I pull one out and finish them, finally. They are not easy to kill.

I sigh once more, I had been out here for months, possibly years as I have lost track. The only way I manage to keep going is by running and eating any animals or plants I come across, also I raid their battle tents and try and find ammo and grenades, and if I can aid sprays, but they seem to be a delicacy now.

I see it, astonished I look again. A small black spec in the distance, which then hid behind a mountain. It looks like something I know, no, no, no - they have given up searching.

Haven't they?


End file.
